


if you just say the words, i'll up and run to you

by ohprongs



Series: familiar strangers [2]
Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU, Background Malec, Jace is a Lightwood, M/M, None of Your Faves are Straight, anyway in the uk it’s like a crumbly dense biscuit thing, background clizzy, everybody say it with me:, first jimon fic!!, human!AU, i should have thought of that, jace is a secret softie this is canon, jimon au, screw what ao3 thinks jace is a lightwood, sorry I don't make the rules - Freeform, the prompt was perfect, what is a scone in america?, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 04:37:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7962733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohprongs/pseuds/ohprongs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>or, the ‘there’s an overnight IT person at school who always answers the phone when i call about a problem with my computer and i totally have a crush on their voice and their exasperation and ALSO the bakery down the street is always running out of my fave scones and the adorable person behind the counter can’t hide their amusement and i think it’s super rude but also super cute’ au</p>
            </blockquote>





	if you just say the words, i'll up and run to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zombieagent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombieagent/gifts).



> for [ann](http://happymagnuss.tumblr.com)<3
> 
> title from _budapest_ by george ezra

“Did you turn it off and on again?”

The voice on the other end of Jace’s cellphone sounds weary but a little amused, and - as always - the sound of it makes something flip in Jace’s stomach. 

“ _Yes_ ,” says Jace, trying his best to be offended, “I’m not completely useless.”

A snort. “Well, this is like, the fourth time you’ve called in two weeks about your computer, so you’re kind of giving off that impression.”

Jace huffs. “If you gave better advice maybe I wouldn’t have to keep calling,” he says, restarting the game of Spider Solitaire he’s just lost.

“Hey, don’t diss my advice,” the guy says. “I am the mighty IT guy and mere mortals should bow before me.”

Jace smothers his face with one hand. How in God’s name does he have a crush on this guy?

“You can always try opening the file with a different programme if you can’t get Word to start,” the guy continues, “or find the file on your hard drive, copy it to a USB and open it on another computer.” He gives Jace a series of keyboard commands to carry out, and Jace can’t help smiling. He taps his fingers over random keys, loud enough to be heard on the other end of the phone, actually just typing strings of letters into a search bar. 

“Did that get you into your hard drive?” the guy asks a moment later. “Your user should have opened in a new window, and from there you can access the files.”

“Yeah, it opened,” says Jace, playing his next card game move.

“Cool, well done!” The guy on the other end of the line chuckles. “So, back to the main problem. Since restarting didn’t get Word to reopen, you should probably try a system restore. There might have been a bug in the update. You’re welcome to call again if you need any help with that.”

“Sure, I will. Thanks for your help, bro.”

“No problem. Is that everything?” 

Jace smiles and leans back in his desk chair. “Yep.”

The guy sighs. “Okay, you know the drill. Can I ask, on a scale of one to ten, where one is not at all and ten is very, how happy are you with the service you got today?”

Jace makes a final play and wins his game. “Seven.”

“ _Seven?_ ” the guy repeats, and then clears his throat. “Alright, sure. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend in need of IT help, on the same scale?”

“I dunno,” says Jace. “Six?”

“Do you even care about my performance stats?” the guys asks indignantly, and Jace snorts. “Finally, how likely are you to ring back and speak to one of the IT team about your problem?”

Jace grins. _If it’s you? Ten._

“Four.”

“Oh, _come on,_ ” the guy complains. 

“I’m just messing with you,” says Jace. “Eight, why not?”

The guy’s voice comes through the speaker heavy with sarcasm. “Shucks, I’m _blushing._ Well, thanks. I guess I’ll speak to you on…Monday? Fits your pattern.”

Jace palms his forehead. He has a _pattern_. How has he become so obvious?

“Maybe I’ll mix it up and call Tuesday,” he says, and _wow_ that’s getting close to a flirting tone.

The guy laughs. “Whatever. You can hang up anytime.”

Jace really doesn’t want to. “No, _you_ hang up,” he says, deliberately cliché. 

“Ha ha. Seriously though, you need to hang up. Our boss tells us off if we -”

Jace disconnects the call and only feels slightly guilty that his entire IT problem was a massive lie.

∞

The first time he’d called, he really had needed help. He’d been pulling an all-nighter for an essay due the next day and his screen had just…faded to black, then restarted with a whole load of code on display. Jace had been about ready to throw himself out of his college room window when the IT guy had picked up the phone, and it was like the guy dunked Jace’s world in honey. His voice was soothing even as he rambled on at top-speed, and then he’d done the impossible and remotely pulled a temporary autosaved version of Jace’s essay.

Jace had offered to kiss him, and he got a laugh in reply. 

But it wasn’t a no.

The second time, he’d really been ringing back to thank the guy again for saving his ass, but then his laptop had decided to hate him again and wouldn’t let him access a webinar that had mandatory attendance. 

The third time, Jace made up some bull about not being able to connect wirelessly to the printer, and then the printer decided to get in on the whole ‘make Jace’s life a misery’ thing that his laptop had going on and spat out his essay with half the text missing, so halfway through the phone call he’d had to admit that he was having a new, different problem to the one he’d explained initially.

This time, his bastard laptop is sitting on his desk, shut down and lid closed. Jace is playing mind-numbingly boring games on Alec’s computer (which doesn’t seem to despise him) and appears not to tempt fate by ringing IT again.

He’s just got lucky that every time it’s _his_ IT guy who answers the call.

∞

“No. Nuh-uh.” Izzy shoves half a burrito in her mouth, shaking her head as she chews. Her mouth is still mostly full when she speaks. “You can’t go for the baker. The IT guy is _where it’s at_.” She punctuates the last three words with jabs of her finger.

Alec makes a sound of protest and throws his burrito wrapper at her. 

“Really, Iz? Knowing how to make amazing food or knowing how to type shit fast, how could you ever decide?”

Jace rolls his eyes at both of them. 

“One major problem you’re both forgetting: neither of them actually know I like them.”

Both Alec and Izzy look at him, so in sync it’s almost disturbing. They wear identical expressions of good-natured exasperation.

“Then _tell_ them,” Izzy says, like it’s the simplest thing in the world.

Alec lifts an eyebrow. “If I can ask _Magnus Bane_ on a date, you can tell a nerd you like him,” he points out. Jace is immediately defensive. 

“He’s not a _nerd_.”

Alec rolls his eyes. “I say it with love,” he says.

Jace runs a hand through his hair. He shifts around so he can lay on his back with his head pillowed on Izzy’s legs, only half worried about potential burrito debris falling on him.

“Anyway, what if they’re both straight?” he asks, a hand over his face.

Alec sighs and kicks his legs up over Jace’s. They’re sitting all intersected on the floor and Jace is hit by memories of a childhood where they used to play for hours in Alec’s bedroom.

“Then it’s shit and you move on,” Alec says after a moment.

“Good talk, man,” intones Jace. “Great advice.”

Alec glares at him. Izzy points at Alec.

“Then we get shit- _faced_ ,” she corrects. “And you get laid and move on.”

Jace hums. 

“Liking two straight boys at once is so stressful,” he complains. Izzy pats his hair and Alec makes a sympathetic noise, and even though they didn’t really resolve anything, it makes Jace feel infinitely better.

∞

Java Jones is surprisingly empty when Jace arrives, so he ends up getting served straight away. By the cute baker.

Shit.

“Hey,” the guy greets, pushing his glasses up his nose. “What can I get you?”

Jace stares for a moment, trying to hold back a number of inappropriate responses that rush to the tip of his tongue.

“An Americano,” he says, and the boy nods, scrawling the order on a coffee cup.

“Anything else?”

Jace peers into the glass cabinet at the side of the counter. 

Java Jones started as an open-all-hours coffee shop for caffeine-deprived college students, but since then they’ve branched out into selling cakes, biscuits, breads and savoury pastries, too. Jace often buys his lunch here, but that might only be because he has a major crush on the cute boy who works here three days a week.

He taps the glass where there’s an empty tray.

“You have any more of these scones?”

The boy glances at the cabinet. 

“Nope, sorry. Sold out this morning.” Jace can’t hold back his groan of frustration. The guy’s brown eyes, framed by his glasses, come back to Jace’s face. “Maybe try again tomorrow?” he suggests. He shrugs as if he’s innocent in the farce, but his lips are twitching and Jace points his finger accusingly.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Jace says, dangerously close to whining. 

Okay, so accusing a guy of scone-thievery maybe isn’t his finest pick-up technique, but every damn time he comes into Java Jones they’ve run out, and every damn time the cute boy finds the fact way too amusing.

Jace wants to kiss him all over his smiley gorgeous face.

“Our scones are very good,” is all the guy says, turning away from Jace to set the coffee machine working.

Jace groans.

“I wouldn’t know,” he says petulantly, stabbing the counter top with his finger. He notices a moment later that the guy is laughing. It’s the best sound he’s heard all morning.

Jace is just wondering when he became such a sap when the boy speaks again.

“Listen,” the boy says, facing Jace, “how about I save you one tomorrow?”

Jace raises an eyebrow, trying to hide the fact that his heart his threatening to thump out of his chest.

“What’s in it for you?” he asks, leaning over the counter.

The boy looks at him for a minute.

“A date,” he says finally. 

Jace almost falls over.

He pulls himself together and gives the boy a blinding smile.

“You got it,” says Jace, and the boy smiles right back at him. It’s the loveliest thing Jace has seen in a while, and honestly, screw that IT guy. Jace has a date with the cute baker and everything is perfect.

∞

He’s about to throw his coffee cup away when he realises the boy didn’t write Jace’s order on the side of it. He wrote his name and number.

It’s such a cliché it almost makes Jace’s knees go weak.

∞

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [jace]

13:04 GUESS WHO JUST GOT A DATE

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [izzy]

13:05 OH MY GOD!!!!

13:05 wait it wasn’t the baker was it

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [jace]

13:05 dough-nt be silly

13:05 hahaha yea it was sorry sis

13:06 his name is simon

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [izzy]

13:06 how could you do this to me!!!!!! what the f!!!!

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [alec]

13:06 I AM THE SUPERIOR SIBLING

13:06 he wants a pizza you

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [jace]

13:07 he wanted to get me before im scone

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [alec]

13:07 are you bready for ur date?

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [jace]

13:08 no man he’s baking me nervous

 

To: [fuck yeah lightwoods]

From: [izzy]

13:09 im literally gonna leave this group chat i swear to god

∞

Simon takes his break as soon as Jace gets to Java Jones the next day, bringing with him a plate he’d kept behind the counter.

“One scone, as promised,” he says with a smile, “and also, hi.”

Jace bites his lip to stop himself grinning too much and nods. “Hey.”

He slips off his leather jacket and follows Simon to a booth seat. Simon offers him a drink and then sets about fixing them both coffee, and it’s kind of weird going on a coffee date with someone who works partly as a barista but it’s also kind of nice. When Simon brings the drinks over Jace offers to pay, but Simon just shakes his head.

“My treat,” he says. Jace rolls his eyes. 

“Okay, but I’m buying next time.”

Simon looks delighted. Jace tries not to leap across the table and kiss him.

“Next time? The scone’s that good, is it?”

Jace takes a bite and almost moans. It’s crumbly and buttery and he can absolutely see why they’ve always sold out, and he’s absolutely getting Simon to save them for him more often.

He doesn’t answer Simon’s question - not that it needs an answer - and just eats some more scone. He can feel Simon watching him.

“So…” begins Simon, and Jace rolls his eyes.

“Come on, bro. It’s not awkward,” says Jace easily. “By doing that you’re _making_ it awkward.”

Simon ignores this. “Did you just call me ‘bro’ on a date?” he asks, sounding far too amused.

Jace shrugs, and Simon opens his mouth to say something else but ends up yawning right in Jace’s face. He looks absolutely _mortified_. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, you’re gonna think I’m totally rude,” he gets out. “I just had a late night, I’m not bored or anything.”

Jace grins and waves a hand.

“Hot date?” he teases, and Simon shakes his head with a smile.

“I volunteer up at college and I was on a late shift,” he says, by way of explanation.

Jace nods. “You’re at NYU? I’ve not seen you around.”

Simon sips his coffee. “Yeah, I do Accounting, for some reason that I forgot about two minutes into the application process,” he says, which makes Jace smile again. God, he’s doing a lot of that. “How about you? Let me guess, something sporty?”

“Nope,” says Jace, and Simon knocks his fisted hand into his other palm, breathing out an exaggerated _damn_. “But I am on the college football team,” he allows. Simon smiles, and Jace temporarily forgets how to breathe. 

When he recovers, he says, “I do music.”

Simon’s eyes go wide behind his glasses. “No kidding!” 

Jace rolls his eyes and looks away. “I know, I don’t look like the type, right?”

Simon shrugs. “I guess. I just - that’s so cool! I wanted to do music or something - sound tech, actually, ‘cause I’m into that kind of thing in my free time - but my Mom was adamant that accounting had better job prospects, so…”

Jace finds himself nodding, smiling, falling head first for this boy. It’s slightly worrying.

“You play?” he asks. “You should come to the department some time, I can show you around.”

Simon smiles widely at him and he looks so damn _nice_ it makes Jace’s heart burst.

“Sure. I mean I’ve visited a couple of times already - my friend Maureen studies there too, and we’re in a band together. I, uh, I play guitar. And sing,” he finishes, with an embarrassed shrug. He rubs at the back of his neck. “We’re playing now, actually.”

Jace gives Simon a quizzical look and Simon gestures around them. It takes Jace a minute to pick out the music playing quietly above the hum of the café, but when he does he hears a pleasant indie-acoustic song drifting across the room.

“That’s you?” he asks after a couple of moments. Simon nods. “Sounds good. I mean, I can’t really hear it.” Simon laughs. “But it’s probably great. Have you got an EP or anything?”

Simon nods again and half gets up from the booth before sitting down again. “I’ll get it for you later,” he says. “What do you play?”

Jace flexes his fingers. “Piano. Classical.”

Simon looks down at Jace’s hands for a suspiciously long time, and Jace fights the urge to run them up Simon’s arms, over his shoulders, cup his jaw and -

He settles for resting his fingertips against Simon’s, and when Simon intwines their fingers properly, so they’re holding hands over the tabletop, Jace can’t help smiling.

“Figures,” says Simon quietly, and Jace thinks maybe he wasn’t supposed to hear it. “Hey, we’re playing a gig next Saturday, if you wanted to come? My band, I mean. Unfolded Pretzel.”

Jace quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the name is a work in progress,” says Simon, with a self-deprecating shrug. 

Jace meets Simon’s eye, finds the warm brown focussing solely on him. “I’d love to.”

∞

Jace comes back to Java Jones the day after their first date, super early in the morning so he can grab a scone before they’re gone for the day. Disappointingly, Simon’s not working behind the counter when Jace gets served, but he ends up bumping into him on his way out the door anyway.

Simon grins and waves.

“Woah, you really missed me, huh?” he asks teasingly, and Jace rolls his eyes. 

He holds up the takeaway bag containing the scone and his to go cup. “I missed _something_ ,” Jace says, and Simon gasps with his hand thrown dramatically over his chest. 

Jace is walking away when he hears his name called.

“You have my number, don’t you?” asks Simon. He adjusts his glasses.

Jace just winks in return, and Simon trips over the step on his way into the bakery.

∞

The gig on Saturday is a complete success, and Jace is so proud of Simon he feels like he might burst. 

He heads backstage - the cordoned off area to the left of the performance spot - to find Simon when they’re done. Jace is honestly just planning on congratulating Simon, but Simon his beaming right at him and he looks like he’s on a well-deserved high, so Jace can’t help walking up to him and breathing out, “Can I kiss you?”

Simon doesn’t answer and kisses Jace in response, pushing him up against the wall and slipping one hand under the hem of his shirt to rest on his hip.

Jace sighs happily. His fingers curl into Simon’s hair and tug him closer, and it’s pretty much number one on his best first kisses ever.

∞

Two weeks into their relationship, Jace and Simon go for their first proper dinner date, doubling with Clary and Izzy.

They go to a restaurant that the girls have wanted to try for ages, and it actually serves pretty nice food. Even though - or maybe because - Clary and Izzy are disgustingly cute together, the four of them only get mistaken for two straight couples two times, which is something of a record.

Clary gets annoyed about it, Jace just finds it hilarious, and Clary kicks him under the table.

Izzy looks on at her girlfriend approvingly at this turn of events and Jace glares at his sister.

∞

“Why does every single computer hate me?” Jace asks frustratedly.

He and Simon are sitting on his bed in the college room he shares with Alec. Simon’s fiddling with his guitar, messing around with a couple of new ideas, while Jace attempts to write his midterm essay. He keeps getting distracted and it’s entirely Simon’s fault. Alec’s computer won’t work and it’s entirely _not_ Jace’s fault.

Simon sets his guitar aside and nudges his elbow into Jace’s arm. 

“Here,” he says, holding out his hands, “let me try. Did you turn it off and on again?”

Jace rolls his eyes, even as he hands the computer over. “Yes,” he says, “I’m not completely useless.”

And then he freezes.

Because -

He looks at Simon, takes him in: mop of brown curls, tortoise-shell glasses, _Lord of the Rings_ T-shirt, dark pants. Simon looks right back at him.

“What?” he asks eventually, hands frozen over the keyboard.

“Nothing,” says Jace immediately. He glances away, and then back again. “Say what you just said?”

Simon looks at Jace like he’s grown another head. 

“Did you turn it off and on again,” he repeats, and Jace is torn between laughing and whacking himself around the head with the pillow. 

“O - kay,” says Simon haltingly. “I definitely missed something.”

Jace declines to answer, kissing Simon instead. He cups a hand around the back of Simon’s neck to draw him closer, and parts Simon’s lips with his tongue. At some point he vaguely registers the computer falling to the floor, but he ignores it. Simon pulls back, even as Jace drags his teeth along the line of Simon’s throat.

“Shit, that’s Alec’s PC and - God, _Jace_ \- he’s gonna kill me if he - _oh_ -” 

Simon gives up on talking and lets himself be distracted by Jace’s kisses, falling backwards onto the bed and pulling Jace with him. As Jace crawls over Simon he reaches one hand down to grab the laptop and put it on the nightstand. 

“I’ll protect you from Alec,” he murmurs, and Simon chuckles beneath him. 

When they eventually stop kissing, Simon’s hair is even messier than usual, his glasses askew, and he has a line of hickeys trailing from his collarbone to his jaw. He’s breathless as he speaks, and Jace wants the sound to be all he ever hears from here on out.

“What was that for?” asks Simon. He runs a hand through Jace’s hair and tugs lightly on one of the blond strands. “Not that I’m complaining. _Definitely_ not complaining.” He shifts slightly under Jace, moving his hips, and Jace can feel -

Well.

 _That’s_ definitely something to think about.

“I just realised something,” says Jace, nuzzling Simon’s shoulder, and Christ, if his siblings ever found out he was _nuzzling_ someone, he’d never live it down, but he doesn’t think Simon’s a tattle-tale.

“Yeah?” asks Simon.

Jace lifts himself up onto his elbows so he can look at Simon. “The two straight boys I was crushing on are actually one pansexual boy.”

Simon looks understandably confused, and Jace presses a quick kiss to his lips. 

“Though I’m still crushing on him.”

Simon’s eyes dart around the room, as if he can find some kind of explanation, and then he shakes his head.

“Nope. Explain.” He pokes Jace. “And who are these two straight boys? Do I need to be jealous? Do I need to get Clary to beat them up for me?”

Jace laughs and flops down next to Simon.

“You volunteer at college, you said,” he begins, and Simon nods.

“Yeah, with IT support.” 

Jace holds Simon’s hand. “Turns out I called you a couple times.”

Simon raises his eyebrows. “You did?”

Jace leans in and kisses Simon again. He can’t quite seem to stop doing it, even though he’s had lots of practice in the three weeks they’ve been dating so far. “Yeah. And, just for the record, I _do_ care about your performance stats.”

From his place kissing the underside of Simon’s jaw, Jace misses Simon’s no-doubt hilarious expression, but he feels the boy’s intake of breath.

“That was you?” asks Simon, not quite accusingly but close enough that Jace feels like he should possibly be offended. Jace nods and Simon starts laughing. 

“Wow. Funny story, actually. I loved your calls. You were so adorably clueless about computers and I kind of had a major crush on your voice.”

Jace can’t help pouting at the description.

“Call me adorable again and I’ll set Alec on you,” he warns. “I’m very manly.”

Simon straightens his glasses, looking like he’s about to laugh again. 

“Okay, two things. One, I feel like the fact that you have to tell me you’re manly defeats the whole point, and two, that is literally the gayest threat I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Jace tries to stay straight-faced, but he can’t help collapsing into laughter beside Simon, and somehow they wind up kissing again. 

Jace can’t say he minds.

∞

Izzy drops a straw wrapper down on the table they’re sitting at and points a finger at Simon.

“I thought you were just my girlfriend’s best friend, but it turns out you’re an Accounting student who works in a bakery and volunteers with IT support _and_ is in a band,” she says, sounding impressed, and Simon blushes a bit.

“I have a very varied skill set?” he offers, and Izzy and Jace laugh. Even Alec smiles slightly, which Jace counts as acceptance.

“All this time you two were one person removed from each other,” muses Izzy as she steals Alec’s milkshake, and then she slurps some. “Weird, huh?”

Alec swipes his milkshake back. “But you didn’t know Simon was the IT guy, or the baker. So there’s that.”

Izzy rolls her eyes. “Such a buzzkill. Can’t you _feel_ the romance?” She pokes Alec and wiggles her eyebrows. “Speaking of, how’s Magnus?”

Alec gives her a flat look and then turns to Jace. “ _Anyway._ Do you know why my computer won’t work?”

Jace’s bottom lip curls and he shrugs, even as he stamps Simon’s foot under the table to stop him from saying anything. “Sorry, man. Hey, Simon does IT. Maybe he can take a look?”

Simon smiles at Alec, who’s eyes narrow as he looks between the two of them.

“Did you do something to it?” Alec asks suspiciously. 

Simon looks like he’s close to breaking under Alec’s glare, so Jace traces his forefinger along the back of Simon’s hand.

“Quit accusing my boyfriend,” he says. 

Alec rolls his eyes. “I was accusing you.”

Simon muffles a laugh behind his hand. Jace catches a flicker of approval in Alec’s eyes and he grins, shrugging.

“I am entirely innocent,” says Jace, knowing no-one at the table believes him for a second, and it really doesn’t matter, because he is happy. 

Simon lowers his hand and smiles at Jace.

Floating on air, bubblegum-popping, bursting into song _happy_.

**Author's Note:**

> talk to me on tumblr @[lesbianclaryfairchilds](http://lesbianclaryfairchilds.tumblr.com)


End file.
